1981 Dallas rapist to be set free due to error

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Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
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http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/01/04/...-gets-convicted-attacker-released/?hpt=us_bn5

In 1981, Rickey Dale Wyatt was sent to prison after Dallas County jurors convicted him of a brutal rape. Wyatt was released from jail Wednesday because of a prosecutorial error during his trial.

But the woman who accused him stands by her story: She says her memory of the crime is as sharp today as the blade that left her body scarred on Nov. 1, 1980.

“I remember everything,” Cynthia Burr, now 51, said Wednesday morning. “I remember everything.”

Burr was 19-years-old when she was grabbed by a man while walking to a convenience store on Municipal St. in Southeast Dallas.

“He took me between two houses. He raped me, he cut my throat, he stabbed me five times in the right breast, once in the left arm, once in the left side,” Burr said.

She survived, and was shown police lineups. It was there that she identified Rickey Dale Wyatt as the man who attacked her that night.
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The article doesn't mention specifically what the error was, though it mentions that Wyatt could potentially get compensation money from the state.

Seems pretty clear to me that he was trying to kill her after the rape too, multiple stabbings chest imply he wanted to hit her heart?

Don't really think he should be set free, if the evidence supports Burr.
 
LTC8K6

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,576
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Lots of women have been very sure who raped them, only to turn out to be wrong.
 
A

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
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Previously withheld evidence reveals police conducted but did not record a live line-up in which the victim did not identify Wyatt as her attacker. Wyatt's attorneys also say prosecutors and police withheld evidence that shows he did not resemble the victim's description of the perpetrator: For starters, there is a difference of several inches and more 20 pounds, according to Jason Kreag, who is with the Innocence Project of New York.
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seems about right for police work back then
 
0roo0roo

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
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yea sad but that is how it works, peoples memory is totally unreliable, once a victim thinks they id a guy whether by being led by incompetent police or mistake, it changes their memory.
 
slayer202

slayer202

Lifer
Nov 27, 2005
13,679
119
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0roo0roo said:
yea sad but that is how it works, peoples memory is totally unreliable, once a victim thinks they id a guy whether by being led by incompetent police or mistake, it changes their memory.
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yep ^

nice going OP...
 
I

ichy

Diamond Member
Oct 5, 2006
6,940
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Sounds like a classic Brady violation. This is not a minor technicality, it's a failure to disclose meaningful exculpatory evidence. Blame the prosecutors.
 
LTC8K6

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,576
126
Intentionally withholding exculpatory evidence to send a man to jail for life is not an error, it's a crime.
 
Macamus Prime

Macamus Prime

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2011
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You mean, in all the years he wuz in prison, they never done bothered executing him??!!!
oblt.jpg
 
A

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
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ichy said:
Sounds like a classic Brady violation. This is not a minor technicality, it's a failure to disclose meaningful exculpatory evidence. Blame the prosecutors.
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1981 + Texas + african american defendant

i bet some cop didn't like him and got him off the street
 
Brovane

Brovane

Diamond Member
Dec 18, 2001
6,423
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Gary Udashen, another of Wyatt's lawyers and the president of the Innocence Project of Texas, said the case wouldn't have even been in front of Creuzot today if it weren't for the policies instituted when Watkins took office: "It illustrates what happens when district attorneys will open their files."
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I have a lot of respect for the DA in Texas who has been opening up his files. Most DA's would have made sure that this would have been kept buried. All the DA's across the country should be opening their files.
 
LiuKangBakinPie

LiuKangBakinPie

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
3,903
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-Slacker- said:
What exactly was the incriminatory evidence besides the testimony of the victim?
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I think those days there were no semen samples and other forensic dna tests like we get today. The crime scene (not her body btw) is gone. Did they take photos of how she looked? If theres no witnesses then its her word against his and the quality of his defense. Police Line up does that mean anything. Everyone can pick a person out doesnt make him the attacker. How was the line up setup. Were persons of equal build height and facial figure used? Was it dark? Did she had a good look at him. The list is endless and all you need is to create doubt in one jurors mind.
 
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